Simona grew up in Slovakia, where she attended Spanish immersion high school. She moved to Spain to pursue her bachelor’s and master’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Granada. She also got a master’s degree in biotechnology and molecular biology and finally a PhD in molecular biology. She moved to the USA because “there are a lot of high-quality opportunities for scientists to grow professionally.” She looked forward to improving her English, to learn a new culture, and to make new friends.

We talked to Simona to learn a little more about her story:

Tell us a little bit about your job.

 I currently work on two projects in De la Puente lab. In one of them, I study the interactions of the immune system with the cancer cells, and in the other one, I use tumor-on-a-chip (small devices that recapitulate the tumors in the lab) to study drugs in ovarian cancer patients. Some of the tasks that I usually do in the lab are: growing cancer and immune cells, preparing 3D gels where we grow and study the cell interactions and different drugs against the cancer, taking images using microscopes, analyzing data using different software, etc.

What is your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part of my job is the good feeling when we get good results in experiments, and we know that we can save lives.

What part of your job do you dislike? I dislike that science requires a lot of sacrifice and time spent in the lab.

What do you do for fun outside of work?

 I dance Zumba, go to the gym, and travel around the world whenever I have a chance.   

What inspires you?

I personally know several cancer patients who inspire me to wake up every morning and go to the lab and try to figure out how to improve or save their lives. 

What advice would you give to high school students interested in a career in research?

Study as much as you can, even things that you think are not important or you won’t ever use, because in science there are lot of situations where you will need to use your knowledge and skills you learned in high school or college.  For example, I have had to use a lot of math and physics in my job recently to create the tumor-on-a-chip.

Do you have a favorite scientist?

My favorite scientists are Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin, two outstanding women who made important discoveries and showed to the world that women can do science. 

Simona Plesselova’s Education Path:

Bachelor’s Degree- Pharmacy

Master’s Degree-Pharmacy

Master’s Degree- Biotechnology and molecular biology

PhD- Molecular Biology

Post-doctoral fellow in cancer biology at Sanford Research

For more information on the de la Puente Lab, please visit her lab page on the Sanford Research website.